The present invention relates to room structures, and more particularly to modular rooms and modular room structures, methods for assembling such rooms and structures, modular room and structure components, and methods of assembling such components.
Modular rooms and modular room structures are becoming increasingly attractive for use in a variety of consumer markets due to the modularity and design flexibility of such rooms and room structures. Modular rooms are typically employed when an additional room or structure is required within a larger structure. Among other purposes, such a room can be employed for pharmacies, eye care stores, banks, and other facilities within a store. Modular rooms are commonly free standing and are located at least partially within another larger structure, such as a grocery store, drug store, shopping center, or any other building or structure. However, the modular room can share a common wall with the larger structure. For example, the rear wall of the modular room structure may be one of the exterior or interior walls of the larger structure. A number of different modular room structures exist, and can be employed in a number of different fields and in a number of different applications. Such structures can be employed to connect and/or at least partially stabilize a modular room upon a floor, to connect portions of the modular room to a floor, to join wall panels to one another, and for a number of other purposes.
Modular rooms can be an alternative to conventional manners of constructing additional rooms within the larger structure (e.g., using cinderblock, walls of wood and sheetrock, etc.) or altering the larger structure to add an additional room. Both alternatives can be expensive, and can include costs associated with demolition, supplies, labor, etc. In addition, both alternatives create a permanent structure that can only be altered by incurring the costs of additional construction or demolition.
Modular rooms and modular room structures also provide significant advantages over conventional rooms and room structures relating to assembly, transport, disassembly, inventory, manufacturing. For example, modular rooms can often be assembled and disassembled as needed to simplify manufacturing, shipping, and assembly. However, current modular rooms still require a considerable amount of time (e.g., several weeks) to assemble and disassemble, and typically have a large number of components. As another example, many of the modular room structures employed to assemble modular rooms do not permit adjustment, make assembly difficult, and are weak or unstable.
Compounding these problems is the fact that many conventional modular room components, though similar in shape and function, are not interchangeable with one another. The ability to quickly assemble and disassemble modular room structures is desirable due to the often heavy costs of space and lost business, as well as other factors associated with xe2x80x9cdown timexe2x80x9d of a company or operation that would otherwise be using the room structure (such as to conduct business). Similar components that have a variety of sizes, such as, wall panels, cross stretchers, and primary uprights can increase the cost of manufacturing a modular room or structure, can increase the complexity of assembling and disassembling the modular room or structure, and can result in a room or structure that requires a longer time to assemble and disassemble.
Some existing modular rooms and modular room structures lack sturdiness and can be damaged or ultimately collapse under heavy loads, external forces, and vibration. Modular rooms and modular room structures can particularly lack sturdiness as a result of being loaded by shelving, fixtures, equipment, and other elements and structure attached thereto or otherwise exerting force thereon. In addition, modular rooms and other structures must often withstand earthquakes and minimum loading thresholds as required by law.
Another design issue with regard to modular rooms and modular room structures is related to the floor or other surface upon which such a room or structure is assembled. Specifically, some current modular rooms are not well-suited for areas where the floor surface is uneven or sloping. If such modular rooms are located in areas with uneven or sloping floors, problems can arise with regard to assembly and structural instability.
Still other problems with many existing modular rooms and modular room structures are related to the aesthetic appearance of such rooms and structures. For example, many modular rooms and modular room structures have only a single exterior color scheme, therefore making it difficult to match the color scheme of a surrounding structure or environment. In addition, current modular rooms and modular room structures are often aesthetically unpleasing due to visible structural elements, fasteners and fastening features, and the like.
Due to the design of many components of conventional modular rooms and structures, users are often significantly limited in their ability to change the modular room or structure to other configurations. In many cases, a user is therefore only able to assemble the modular room or structure in one manner. Such inflexibility often presents problems during planning and installation of conventional modular rooms and structures.
With reference now to FIGS. 35 and 36, a problem inherent in the design of conventional modular rooms is the inability to employ standardized room components (such as wall panels, stretchers, doors and door frame, fixtures, and the like) in both interior and exterior locations of the modular room. As will now be described, this problem stems at least in part from the type of modular room components that are commonly employed in conventional modular room designs.
Conventional modular rooms employ uprights that define part of the xe2x80x9cskeletonxe2x80x9d of the modular room. Wall panels and other room components having standard sizes are attached to and are supported by the uprights to define the walls and perimeter of the modular room. For purposes of reduced inventory, easier and less expensive manufacturing and assembly, and room design flexibility, it is desirable to have a minimum number of different wall panel types and a minimum number of different room components for a modular room. For example, standardized wall panels available in a limited number of widths (e.g., 24xe2x80x3, 32xe2x80x3 and 48xe2x80x3) are preferred over wall panels that must be manufactured in more sizes or to custom dimensions. In addition, it is desirable to employ uprights that are relatively inexpensive and occupy as little space as possible. Accordingly, conventional uprights are commonly designed for connection to wall panels, stretchers, and other room components on fewer than all sides of the uprights. For example, many conventional uprights are provided with mounting apertures, fixtures or other mounting features on only two of four sides of each upright. Such a design enables the other sides of the upright to be used for mounting or hanging fixtures and other elements upon the upright, and can facilitate the use of more efficient upright cross-sectional shapes (such as elongated rectangular shapes).
Unfortunately, the use of uprights as just described is at odds with the use of standardized modular room wall panels and other modular room components. This is particularly evident in cases where a user desires to employ the same size modular room wall panels or other modular room components in the interior and exterior of the modular room. With continued reference to FIG. 35 for example, the exterior and interior wall panels W of the modular room M have the same length only because the primary uprights P to which they are connected enable wall connections on more than two sides and because the primary uprights P occupy the same amount of space in both planar dimensions (e.g., the primary uprights P are square). As mentioned above, this is not a highly desirable design for modular rooms because the primary uprights P do not have an optimal shape (i.e., efficiently shaped for connection on less than all sides and having a reduced cross-sectional size). In other words, the primary uprights P must be adapted to be connected to wall panels and other wall components on three or more sides, must therefore be designed for sufficient load-bearing capacity on such sides, and are typically larger and bulkier in order to carry loads in this manner.
With reference now to FIG. 36, primary uprights can be employed that are smaller and/or are adapted for connection to wall panels and other wall components on less than all sides. However, to connect interior wall panels and other wall components, more than one primary upright P is needed. For example, at each wall joint where two exterior wall panels W and an interior wall panel Wxe2x80x2 are joined, two primary uprights P are needed as shown in FIG. 36. Accordingly, the interior wall panel Wxe2x80x2 must be smaller than the exterior wall panels W in order for the interior wall panels P to properly meet. Therefore, different interior and exterior wall panels must be supplied to construct the modular roomxe2x80x94a result that is highly undesirable as described in greater detail above. Similar problems arise with modular room components to be used on the both exterior and interior of the modular room.
In light of the problems and limitations of the prior art described above, a need exists for modular room structures that are quick and easy to assemble and disassemble, sturdy, aesthetically pleasing, can match color and design schemes of the larger structures, and can take a variety of shapes and sizes. Each preferred embodiment of the present invention achieves one or more of these results.
In order to address many of the problems and limitations of the prior art described above, some embodiments of the present invention employ a modular room including a plurality of modular room components (e.g., anchor assemblies, upright assemblies, etc.). These anchor assemblies and upright assemblies can take different forms permitting assembly of a modular room or modular structure in a number of different manners. This flexibility enables a user to assemble a modular room or structure in different sizes, shapes and layouts using a relatively small number of elements and components. By assuming a variety of different sizes, shapes and layouts, the modular room or modular room structure can be flexible to accommodate different layouts of larger structures in which the modular room can be located.
As discussed above, it is also desirable to have a modular room or a modular room structure that is quick and easy to assemble and disassemble and preferably employs modular elements and components. Some embodiments of the present invention employ a reduced number of different component and element types (e.g., sizes), thereby simplifying manufacturing and assembly and reducing the cost of such operations. For example, some or all of the components and elements of a modular room that are employed to construct an exterior wall of the modular room are preferably the same as those employed to construct an interior wall of the modular room.
For purposes of increased stability and strength, some embodiments of the present invention have an upright assembly that includes a substantially vertical elongated upright and a bracket coupled to a bottom end of the upright. The upright can have a wall partially defining an interior of the upright and at least one aperture in the wall. The bracket can have a first portion received within the aperture of the upright that extends into the interior of the upright and releasably connects at a distal end to an interior wall of the upright. The bracket can also have a second portion extending away from the upright to a location where a leg or foot on the bracket rests upon the ground or floor. Mounting the bracket to the upright in this manner can transfer at least some of the horizontal force exerted on the wall of the upright in a vertical direction along the upright. In many cases, uprights have more strength in the vertical direction than in the horizontal direction. Therefore, transferring at least some force exerted by the bracket upon the sidewall of the upright away from the sidewall results in a stronger and more stable upright.
Some embodiments of the present invention employ anchor assemblies for connecting one or more uprights of a modular room to the ground or a floor. Preferably, the anchor assembly includes a base plate having a plurality of edges. At least one of the edges can be bent, stamped, formed or otherwise shaped at an angle with respect to the rest of the base plate. By employing such angled base plate edges, a stronger and more stable anchor plate results. The angled edge(s) can resist deformation from bending moments transmitted from the upright to the anchor assembly, thereby increasing the stability of the modular room or modular room structure employing such anchor plates.
In some embodiments of the present invention, one or more overhead trusses are used to stabilize the walls of a modular room. Preferably, one or more of the trusses includes a first panel, a second panel that is substantially co-planar with respect to the first panel and in end-to-end relationship with the first panel, and a beam coupled to the first and second panels. The beam preferably spans and couples the first and second panels together. By employing this type of overhead truss structure, the overhead trusses can be more easily manufactured, transported, and installed without sacrificing the strength and stability previously thought only available in unitary truss structures.
As discussed above, it is also desirable to have a modular room that can be located on uneven ground without loss of stability. Some embodiments of the present invention have a modular room upright assembly adapted to be coupled to the floor. The upright assembly can include an elongated and substantially vertical upright, a base plate, and a foot coupled to the bottom end of the vertical upright via a threaded connection and resting upon the base plate. Preferably, the threaded connection is adjustable to raise and lower the upright with respect to the base plate and the floor. The ability to adjust the height of the upright in this manner enables a user to construct a stable modular room on uneven ground. Fixtures and other wall components can be more easily connected between adjacent uprights by virtue of their common height with respect to the floor.
It is also desirable to have a modular room that has interior and exterior wall panels and/or wall components and elements of the same width. As used herein and in the appended claims, the term xe2x80x9cwidthxe2x80x9d (in reference to a wall panel or wall components extending between uprights) refers to the dimension of a wall panel or wall panel component in a horizontal direction as opposed to a vertical direction. The xe2x80x9cwidthxe2x80x9d of a wall panel or wall panel component may also be thought of as the horizontal length of the wall panel or wall panel component. Some embodiments of the present invention employ anchor plates that, when arranged as desired to define exterior walls of a modular room, permit the same wall panels in exterior walls of a modular room to be used for interior walls of the modular room. This capability is beneficial because a reduced number of xe2x80x9cstandard-sizedxe2x80x9d wall panels and wall components can be manufactured rather than manufacturing a variety of wall panels having various widths. In addition, interchangeability of wall panels and wall panel components is significantly increased.
It is also desirable to have a modular room that is aesthetically pleasing. Some embodiments of the present invention have a modular room wall assembly having a substantially vertical upright that has an elongated body, a plurality of sidewalls and a plurality of apertures along the elongated body defined in a first sidewall of the plurality of sidewalls. The wall assembly can also include a wall panel coupled to a second sidewall of the plurality of sidewalls and a modesty strip releasably coupled to and running along at least part of the elongated body. The modesty strip can cover at least some of the plurality of apertures in the sidewall. A modular room having such modesty strips can be aesthetically pleasing due to the modesty strip covering at least some of the plurality of apertures to give the appearance of a substantially continuous exterior wall.